Power-transmitting device.



T. J. LEVBIY.

POWER TRANSMITTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED Mus, 1910.

" 974,402. Patented Nov.1,1910.v

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974,402. Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

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UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J'. LEVEY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FIFTH T0 JAMES B. SHEARER, ONE-FIFTH T0 LINWOOD T. HEWITT, OF BALTIMORE COUNTY,v MARYLAND, ONE-,FIFTH TO JOHN MCVEITY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AND ONE-FIFTH TO MARTIN NILSSON, OF PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK.

POWER-TRANSMITTING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1I, THOMAS J. LEVEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Transmitting Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled' in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to power transmitting devices and has for its object to produce an apparatus which will transmit power from a rotating shaft, to another movable part, and which will automatically disconnect said shaft from said part when a predetermined strain on said part has been reached.

To these ends the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combi nations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals refer to like parts in all the Vieweg-Figure 1, is a` view in elevation of a power transmitting device made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 1; and Fig.y 3, is a View partly in section, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

1 indicates a shaft or other rotating part from which it is desired to transmit power, and 2 a rack or other connection to which it is desired to transmit power from the shaft 1. Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 1 is a collar or hub 3. Integrally or `otherwise secured to said hub3 are a pair of arms 4 between which is pivoted as at 5 the pawl 6. Also integral with the hub 3 are a pair of lugs 7 between which is pivoted, as at 8, a lever 9, provided with an end 9 against which one end of the spring 10 abuts. The other end of this spring abuts against the hub 3 and is preferably received 1n the pocket 12, as indicated. A

,screw or other device 11 is provided which controls the tension of said spring 10. The hub 3 is also provided with a lug 14 through which the extended end of the lever 9 passes,

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 3, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

serial No. 559,161.

and a screw 15 controls the extent of movement of said end, as will be readily understood. The other end 16 of the lever 9 is curved, as shown, to accommodate the roller` 17 carried in the end of the pawl 6 on the pivot 18, as illustrated. The curved end 16 is preferably cut away at 19 to receive the roller 17, said end 16 being widened as at 20 to accommodate the roller, as will be readily understood.

From the structure now disclosed it will be evident that as the shaft l turns, the hub 3, arms 4, pawl 6, and lever 9, will turn with it. The pawl 6, however, carries a lug 22 against which a lug 23 carried by the arm 24 takes. The arm 24 is rigid with a sleeve 25 which is loose on the shaft 1, and which sleeve ca rries any suitable connection, as the gear 26, which engages with the power transmitting device 2. It therefore, follows, so long as the lugs 22 and 23 engage that power will be translnitted from the shaft l through said lugs to the arm 24 and through said arm to the power transmitting device 2. Vhen the strain on the lug 23, however, reaches a predetermined point, it is further evident that the roller 17 carried by the pawl 6 will turn the lever 9 upon its pivot and thereby permit the lug 23 to escape past the lug 22, and to thereupon disengage the transmission rack 2 from the shaft 1. The amount of strain which will be transmitted before this disengagement takes place, may be readily determined by adjusting the compression of the spring 10, and the amount of movement of which the arm 16 of the lever 9 will be capable can be readily determined by adjusting the Screw 15.

After the roller 17 has left the notch or depression 19 it is desirable to return the pawl 6 to its normal position as quickly as possible, and in order to accomplish this I Which bears uponthe curved portion of the pawl 6, as will be vclearly understood. It follows, as soon as the pawl 6V is disengaged from the lever 9, and while it is still rotating with the shaft 1, that the springs 30 will immediately cause the rengagement of said pawl and lever, and that, therefore, the parts will be immediately restored to their normal positions for transmitting power.

Since in some classes of machines such as punches, drills, stamping and bottle capping machines the transmission and disengagement of the power may follow continuously one after the other, it is very desirable indeed to have the parts so related that it is not possible for them to fail to function properly. In order to accomplish this desirable result, the end 16 of the lever 9 is prolonged as shown, so that the roller 17 will ride along its curved portion without ever leaving it. In other words, the curved port-ion of this lever constitutes a track on which the roller equipped end of the pawl 6 rides, and it serves as a guide to steady the movements of the pawl and to, therefore, insure its proper return to its normal position. The lugs 14 also serve to steady the movements of the lever 9 and to prevent said lever from becoming disarranged owing to the sudden `jars it receives through the action of the pawl 6. Of course, the work to be done, such as punching, shearing, stamping, capping bottles, etc., will be accomplished through connections with the moving part 2 to which the power isY to be transmitted, and said part will usually be connected with a spring or other means, not shown, for returning it to normal position after the lugs 22 and 23 have been disengaged, but such features constitute no part of the present invention and, therefore, will not be described. The operation of this device will be clear from the foregoing, butmay be briefly summarized as follows The shaft 1 is continuously driven from any suitable source of power, and it carries with it the continuously rotating arms 4f, pawl 6 and lever 9. The lug 22 on the pawl 6 engages the lug 23 on the loose arm 24 so long as the power is insufficient to trip the roller 17 out of its seat. But as soon as the power which is transmitted by the arm 24, through its gear 26, to the moving part 2, reaches a predetermined amount the strain on the lug 22 .will be so great as to cause the roller 17 to leave the notch 19 in the lever 9, and to traverse the curved end 16 of said lever. This movement of the pawl 6 of course, allows the lug 22 to turn on the pivot 5 as a center, and, therefore, to disengage the lug 23 and to consequently relieve the strain on the movable part 2. The relieving of the strain on this part, of course, would prevent the ma- 'chine from breaking when any of its working parts are called upon to perform an abTl normal quantity of work. But it is essential as the shaft turns that the pawl 6 and lever 9 shall be brought back to their normal positions ready for the lug 22 to rengage the lug 23 upon the completion of the revolution. To accomplish this, the springs 30 automatically return the roller 17 and the pawl 6 to the notch 19 as soon as the lugs 22 and 23 have become disengaged. In other words, as the shaft 1 continuously rotates power is continuously transmitted to the movable part 2, and when an abnormal strain is brought on said part 2, the power is immediately taken off the said part 2 and automatically restored to said part upon the completion of the revolution.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to such features, except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 1. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotating shaft; a movable part; means loosely mounted on said shaft engaging said movable part; means fixed on said shaft adapted'to engage said loosely mounted means; and automatic means associated with said fixed means adapted to release said loosely mounted means when a predetermined strain has been reached, substantially as described.

2. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotating shaft provided with an arm fixed thereon; an arm loosely mounted on said shaft; connections by which said fixed arm is adapted to transmit power to said loosely mounted arm; and means for automatically disengaging said connections when the power transmitted to said loosely mounted arm exceeds a predetermined amount, substantially as described.

3. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotating shaft provided with an arm xed thereon; an arm loosely mounted on said shaft; connections by which said fixed arm is adapted to transmit power to said loosely mounted arm; means for automatically disengaging said connections when the power transmitted to said loosely mounted arm exceeds a predetermined amount; and means for automatically restoring the parts to their normal positions after such disengagement has occurred, substantially as described.

et. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotary shaft provided with an arm fixed thereon; an arm loosely mounted on said shaft; and having a pair of coperating lugs by which said fixed arm is adapted to transmit power to said loosely mounted arm; and means comprising an inman..

terengaging lever and pawl for automatically disengaging said coperating lugs when the power transmitted to said loosely mounted arm exceeds a predetermined amount, substantially as described.

5. In a power transmitting device the combination of a rotating shaft; an arm fixed to said shaft; a pawl pivoted to said arm; a pivoted lever also fixed to said shaft with which said pawl engages; and means loosely mounted on said shaft adapted to engage said pawl; substantially as described.

6. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotating shaft; an arm fixed to said shaft; a pawl pivoted to said arm; a pivoted lever also fixed to said shaft with which said pawl engages; means for` regulating the friction between said lever and pawl; and means loosely mounted on said shaft adapted to engage said pawl, substantially as described.

7. In a power transmitting device the combination of a rotating shaft; an arm fixed to said shaft; a pawl pivoted to said arm; a pivoted lever also fixed to said shaft with which said pawl engages; means for regulating the friction between said lever and pawl comprising a spring; means for returning said pawl to its normal frictional engagement with said lever after having been forced therefrom; and means loosely mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage said pawl, substantially as described.

8. In a power transmitting device the combination of a rotating shaft; a collar carrying an arm fixed thereon; a pawl pivoted to said arm; a lever pivoted to said collar with which said pawl frictionally engages; and means for adjusting the friction between said pawl and said lever, substantially as described.

9. In a power transmitting device the combination of a rotating shaft; a collar carrying an arm fixed thereon; a pawl pivoted to said arm; a lever pivoted to said col` lar with which said pawl frictionally engages; an adjustable stop `to limit the movements of said lever; means for adjusting the friction between said pawl and said lever, comprising a spring and a screw for adjusting the compression of said spring; said lever having a curved extension to guide the extreme end of said pawl, substantially as described.

l0. In a power transmitting device the combination of a rotating shaft; pivoted means rotating with said shaft adapted to transmit a predetermined amount of power; and means associated with said pivoted means adapted to regulate the amount of power to be transmitted, substantially as described.

ll. In a power transmitting device, the combination of a rotating shaft; pivoted means rotating with said shaft adapted to transmit a predetermined amount of power; means associated with said pivoted means adapted to reo'ulate the amount of power to be transmitted; and means loosely mounted on said shaft adapted to receive the power transmitted by said pivoted means, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. LEVEY.

Witnesses:

T. A. WITHnnsrooN, R. M. PARKER. 

